SaturnMom

4 hours ago, aprilF said:

The only use for cash is at the locals craft market, which IMO was a bunch of junk.  And the little I saw with prices seemed over priced to me.  If you are stopping anywhere else odds are good you will see a better selection and better prices.  There are a couple of nicer gift shops, at least one has more upscale crafts.  These shops take your cruise card only as payment.  Next time I will leave cash on the ship.

Thanks for the head up....after cruising for years, I shouldn't bring anymore junk home....hahahaha...But sometime when I saw beautiful handcrafted wood animals, I couldn't help myself. 😅

20 minutes ago, eastoftheboston said:

there are a few lockers near the big bathrooms On ocean cay. Not sure if they cost anything. There’s some kind of electronic system you use to access it. Hope this helps. 

Thank you. I think the electronic system probably for us to use the ship card to pay for a fee. According to other cruisers, it was safe to leave the belongings on the beach. I may just carry a small amount of money and eat from the buffet :). 

Vswan, Cellfree & Anita,

Thank you all for the information, I probably will have to buy a short sleeve wetsuit just in case. I love to swim,  but in warmer water.

Oh...did you see any organized activities on the beach area? Like games or beach volleyball? The ship will dock from 9am - 11pm, they better provide lot of activities for us to do. 😆Just kidding, I can lay down on the lounge chair all day without doing anything.

Can you tell me about the water temperature? I went to Bahamas last April and the water was a bit too cold for me to swim. DH didn't want to go in the ocean at all.  We are going to Ocean Cay in 3 weeks, and I am wondering should I pre-order the floating mat and stand up paddle board. And is there any locker for people to use  at Ocean Cay? TIA

26 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

Still have to pay for parking. . .

Oh..if you have a car, you may try to stay pre-cruise at one of the MIA airport hotels. Lot of them offer stay and park. For example, Hampton Inn Miami Airport one night and 8 days of parking is $179, with free breakfast too. Then Uber to POM is about $15-$17. But if you already booked your hotel room, this maybe not be an option for you.

I think the Brightline package is a good deal if you fly Southwest and have to take transportation to POM.

If you don't care about the luggage service, maybe just Uber from FLL to Port of Miami. It only cost about $39-$45, depending on the time.

Oh no.....she just finished a 3 weeks dry dock. I am going to sail on her in Feb 2020, hopefully the crew can figure out why she is not running in full power.

12 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

You can be the one to start one!

😅 This is my first time with MSC. What do I need to do to start a roll call? Will I be the admin after that?

I don't see a roll call for my sailing, does it mean there will be no M&G too?

We won't sail on her until February, but I can't wait to see new posts about the dry dock and Ocean Cay experience. The Armonia will dock at Ocean Cay on Dec 15th.

Hi all,

As I mentioned before, I am total new to MSC and I have a few questions for my upcoming cruise:

1. I downloaded the MSC for Me app then found out it is only for the newer ships. When we boarded, is there any app I can use on my phone to check daily schedule and activities? Husband don't want to carry the paper daily anymore 🤣.

2. Excursion - can anyone tell me the 20% off excursion is a promotion or it away like this. I don't want to book the excursion too early, but don't want to miss the 20% off either. Can't believe they don't offer anything Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for someone already booked 😤.

3. Easy Drink Package - both husband and I not a big drinker, but want to buy the easy drink package as it is my birthday cruise.  Can I order a glass of juice and a cocktail at the same time? Any limit on how many drink in a day?

4. Can you use the mini fridge in your room to store extra beer?? I don't think the drink package include the drink from the mini fridge.

Thank in advance.

22 hours ago, cellfree said:

SaturnMom, we had a wonderful time on the Armonia in September and would book it again without hesitation. We have never “met a ship we didn’t like” and have sailed MSC on Divina and Seaside and Meraviglia just last week. Yes, the Armonia is a grand old ship and we loved her. It is always a mystery to me how there can be such varied reviews. Enjoy your cruise. Crew is great. The Captain, Meinhardt Hansen, is fairly new to MSC and a great Captain. If not too late sign up for the CC Meet&Mingle do so - a great event and you will meet the Captain. 

Cellfree,

Thank you. I am going to read your review. This will be my first cruise with MSC, do you have any tips for me? Is the list everything in EURO instead of USD?

Thanks for all positive comments about MSC Armonia.

I found a good deal yesterday, so I booked it right away without doing any research. My bad, but the deal just hard to pass.

Right after I got my confirmation, I came to Cruise Critic and read lot of bad reviews on this ship 😱; I felt like I made a big rookie mistake and ready to cancel the trip. But thanks for all the positive comments, I finally feel better and ready for my first MSC cruise. 😁

I booked a Guarantee Mini-Suite for the same reason, it is even cheaper than booking an inside cabin. When I receive my room assignment, I only want to cry. It is right above the Shakers, and some CC said they could hear the music and piano until 1am. Now I just hope the noise won't be too loud. If you want to book a Guarantee Mini-Suite, just be prepare. Deck 9 is right above the Waterfront, restaurants and bars.

13 hours ago, Kjs2006 said:

We were on the inspiration just a few weeks ago same ship class (I believe) and we had a porthole room U15 to be exact and man oh man the cigarette smoke was horrendous especially later in the day and at night to lessen the smell I brought along some lavender neutralizer spray & spritzer into the vent nightly and when we left the room for the day ...  

DH and I stayed at U15 or U17 last September and it was fine, didn't smell any smoke the whole cruise. We both love the pothole cabin and the extra space, would book it again if possible. Because of our work, we always booked last minute, sometime less than two months from departure.

It has to be an April Fools joke.

1 hour ago, DontTreadOnMe said:

It isn't a mile out, but it isn't 150 feet either.  It looks like about 1000 feet give or take - depending on starting point, destinatino on the reef, route taken and whether it is high or low tide.  Check out this satellite image of Paradise Cove on Google Maps.  That will give you an idea of the distances involved.

 

I believe that there is an option for a boat ride out to the reef for an additional fee, but I have never done it myself so I cannot guarantee that there will be one.

 

Once out at the reef it is a wonderful experience.  Tons of fish to see.

 

We did it all ourselves.  Taxi to the venue.  Paid entry fee.  Used our own gear.  Taxi back to ship.  Easy peasy.

 

 

Did you go before Irma or after? Wonder how much damage to the reef? Do you remember how much you paid for the taxi? I hope I can find more people to share the taxi with us, otherwise may need to pay $40 each way. 😂

Hi everyone,

Husband and I are sailing Carnival Freedom to Key West, Freeport and Nassau in April. Our ship will dock at 8 am and leave at 5 pm, so it will leave us a lot of time to do different things. Could anyone tell me your experience with Paradise Cove? I have done lot of research from TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic, some people said the reef is about 150 ft away, some said it about a mile. I am afraid even with my floating vest and fin, I will have a hard time to swim that far. Or if the current is too high, can I swim back to shore?? 🤔

It doesn't matter your experience was from an excursion or DIY, I just want to hear more about this place. Any input is welcome.

I would like to just take a taxi (and ask the driver to pick us up by 1pm) and pay the entrance fee to get in. We have our own snorkel gear and wet suit, so would rather to spend the money on food and drink than paying for the excursion. I have done this in other Caribbean Islands and had no problem.

Thanks.

Yes, anytime is good. We went last September and stayed the porthole cabin too. Both DH and I love the extra room from the porthole. We put our snorkel gears and swimsuit under a towel to dry. It is a port intensive cruise and we had a wonderful time. We love to do it again.

Thanks for the suggestion. We are so exciting, 28 days to go.

Hi all,

We are sailing out from Galveston to Bahamas in mid-April. Can anyone tell me the average temperature? I remember last time we sailed from Galveston to Cozumel in February, it was so cold and windy that we didn't want to go outdoor until we were in Mexico. I am wishing April will be much warmer and we can stay at the pool more.

Thanks.

Dear CC members,

We are cruising on Carnival Freedom in April, visiting Nassau and Freeport. We love to snorkel and have kind of exhausted ourselves on catamaran tours, because the time for snorkel is too short for our liking. For this cruise, we simply want to ride a cab to the closest, best beach. And, enjoy some lovely, off the beach snorkeling like what we have done at St. Martin, St. Thomas and Barbados before.

My research so far is cable beach at Nassau and Paradise Cover (Deadman's Reef) at Freeport. However, people also said it is hit or miss because of the tide and wind. But the Deadman's reef is probably a no for me because we have to swim like a half mile to reach the reef. 

We went to Coki Beach at St. Thomas, Boatyard at Barbados and Mullet at St. Martin and had wonderful experience. 

Could anyone suggest a best beach to visit in Nassau and Freeport? Thanks in advance. 

We went last September and love this itinerary. Both DH and I love snorkeling, so I done lot of research and brought our own gear.

St.Kitts - the island is very big, so we book with Thenford Grey. The tour was a little bit too long, so we couldn't enjoy the beach time. We enjoyed the tour to Brimstone Hill Fortress, the view was amazing.

St. Thomas - we took the taxi and headed to Coki Beach, we were the first cruise passenger on the beach. Swam with the locals for couple hours. Beautiful beach and good for snorkeling. Saw a lot of fish right by the shoreline.

St. Lucia - Went out with some new friends we met on the ship, and we just went outside the port and hire a van to take us for the whole island tour (8 ppl - $40 each). The drive/guide took us to the fishing village, some local wood crafting store, bought coconut along the way, and went to the drive-in volcano, watch the Pitons from a distance.

St. Maarten - Took taxi to Mullet beach, beautiful beach and good for snorkeling. Then we walked from mullet to Maho beach to watch the plane landing. Then pay another $10 per person for a taxi van to tour the rest of the island (at French side).

Barbados - Took taxi to Harbour Light at Carlisle Bay for beach day + snorkeling. We paid for the fee for the umbrella, chairs and the boat ride to swim with the turtles and snorkel. That's the best snorkel experience in my whole life. Highly recommend it.

We just booked a Bahamas cruise, but found out the beaches are not as nice as the ones we went on this itinerary.

Hope you enjoy this cruise as much as we do.

Thank you everyone for your input. We will drive from Kansas City to Dallas, have a early dinner at 5, then drive to Huntsville to spend the night, sounds like a perfect plan.

Thanks again.

Hi mongo59r,

How does Huntsville, TX feel like? I know it is a small town with a state university, do you feel safe at that area? Is it easy to find restaurant open after 8/9 pm?

Thanks.